Week of November 28, 2010

Hello Parents!

Thank you to everyone for an amazing amount of corn donated by my class! The Thanksgiving Feast would not have been a success without your help!

The spelling words for this week are:

1. Kitten

2. frog

3. dog

4. fish

5. puppy

6. pet

7. little

8. funny

9. snow man

10. winter

Speaking of winter, it is getting COLD in the morning! Please make sure your child has a coat or jacket available to them. LPA sweatshirts are available for purchase at the front office. Also, please make sure that you have your child's name on his/her jacket... we have so many that look alike. Hats, hoodies or gloves are not to be worn IN class.

Thanks! Mrs. C

Week of Nov. 22, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving week to my students and families!

We will have a very short week this week, with a regular school day being Monday, followed by our school wide Thanksgiving Feast for staff and students on Tuesday. The first grade classes are responsible for providing corn for the ENTIRE school, and already I have had several cans of corn show up in class! Thanks to all who have been helping out.

If you are planning on bringing in a dish of HOT corn on Tuesday, if you need your container back, please make sure you have your name, your child's name, my name and grade level clearly marked on the outside of the container somewhere... masking tape works great.

Due to the short week, there will be NO spelling words this week OR nightly homework.

Please be sure to look for our annual "Thanksgiving Cookbook" that the children made for your enjoyment. There are sure to be some yummy and very unique recipe's in there this year.... one that I know I'd love to try but the meat would probably be cost prohibitive!!

Enjoy the holidays with family and friends! We will see everybody back on Monday, Nov. 29th!

Thanks, Mrs. C

November 15, 2010

I hope everybody had a great day off in honor of the Veteran's Day last week!

We have a lot of things going on this month and next before the winter break.

The 3 first grade classes are in charge of providing corn for the entire school including teachers for our Thanksgiving Feast on Nov. 23rd. Please help us out and send in either hot corn in a dish the morning of Nov. 23rd OR cans of corn prior to the 23rd. Thanks for your help.

The spelling words for this week are as follows:

1. is

2. are

3 was

4. were

5. has

6. had

7. have

8. come

9. winter

10. holiday

Parents please keep an eye out for a couple of special things coming home prior to the winter break. The first item is our annual "thanksgiving cookbook" which will be sent home the Monday prior to Thanksgiving. It is full of yummy recipe's from the whole class!

The second item is our winter special project which is a take off from the book "Flat Stanley." We change it a bit for the holidays... and make it the "Flat Gingerbread man." There is a full sheet of instructions for you to send it to a friend, or relative in another city, another state or perhaps another country. The host is to keep a daily log for about a week of the events and places that the Flat Gingerbread Man goes... and then either email the events and photos back to me or send it in the regular mail. This is a great adventure for the kids and they LOVE getting mail and hearing the adventure that their gingerbread man had while visiting out of town!

Thanks again for your help and support! Mrs. C

Hello!

Most of the children that studied their spelling words (and copied them at home) did really well on their first spelling test :)

Here are the words for this week:

1. bed
2. led
3. met
4. get
5. pen
6. ten
7. yes
8. then
9. Tuesday
10. blue

Our spelling test will be held each Friday during a normal 5-day week.

Be sure and take a minute to look around the campus with your child and read the new Playground, Bathroom, Cafeteria and Classroom rules!! We are reinforcing the "Be Caring and Safe, Be Respectful and Be Responsible" rules by handing out Character Cards to any child that demonstrates the rules during the school day. ANY teacher can give a child a Character Card during the school day. At the end of the week, one child from each class will be drawn, and the following Monday, that child will hear his/her name read on the morning announcements and they will receive a prize!!

I'm looking forward to another great week!! Mrs. C

Parents:

Welcome to our first full week of First Grade!

I have had some questions about the Library/computer permission slip that went home today. The permission slip is for our records at the school. It is not intended for you to have to access the internet at your home. The library/computer teacher needs to obtain your written permission for your child to access the computer during their one-hour class on Monday's, and also if you give your permission for your child to check books out of our school library. The books are to be returned the following Monday. Any books that are lost or damaged must be replaced before the end of the school year.

I still have a few students that have not turned in their blue class questionnaire. I would like to get this back by the end of this week.

Your child should have brought home his/her first homework assignment today. There was the back side of the math page which should be completed tonight and returned to school tomorrow. Additionally, the children were given their first list of 10 spelling words to study, and copy during the week. They will be tested on the words this coming Friday.

I sent home a REVISED September snack calendar today. It has the correct student's names and days that they are responsible for bringing in a snack.

Thank you to all the parents who had an overwhelming response to our request for school supplies! We are off to a great start to the school year.

Please help your child be successful in school by ensuring that he/she brings their backpack and homework folder and nightly homework to class each and every day.

Thanks for your help! Mrs. Childress

Beginning of School 2010-2011

Welcome parents and students of my first grade for the 2010-2011 school year!

I am very excited to meet everybody this Thursday! I can't believe the summer has already ended.

You should have received a school supply list. I will be sending another one home this Thursday, along with a 2-sided form for parents to complete in it's entirety and return to me as soon as possible. I have also included a snack calendar for the month of August and September. There have been a couple of changes since the snack calendar was posted, but for now, we'll keep it as it is.

Here is our "specials" schedule for the year:

Computer/Library is on Monday's from 12:15 - 1:15 PM

PE is on Tuesday's from 10:00 - 10:25 AM, and again on Friday's from 11:30 - 11:55 AM. Your child will need tennis shoes on PE days.

The art schedule is on Thursday's from 9:45 - 10:25 AM.

I will be including my email address, school telephone number and other important information for you to read and become familiar with during the first few days of school.

I look forward to a great school year :) Mrs. Childress

May Events

We have lots of activities planned as we wrap up a very busy school year:

Week of May 3-7 Scholastic Book Fair "Buy one, get one free" Times will be posted on library door and in The Link

May 3 - 7 Teacher Appreciation Week. Things to bring your teacher are also posted in The Link

May 7 - Last pancake breakfast with the principal

May 12 - K to 5th grade Field Day (Wednesday) Details to follow

May 25 -End of the year party (Mrs. Childress' class, Ms. Cochran's class and Ms. Macintosh's class

May 28 - Last day of school.

We are finishing up our plant unit. Both parents and kids have been very excited as they have observed our sunflower plants continue to grow!!

We are beginning to work on our solar/planet unit including some fun solar science experiments and solar powered activities.

We will then go back in time and learn about ancient Egypt and how they invented things that we use every day!

Parents: Please remember to help look for any overdue library books! Your child will not receive his or her final report card if there are missing or overdue books. You will have to make arrangements to replace the book or pay for it. Please see Ms. Cook for any questions.

Please remember it is getting hotter and it's a good idea to apply sunscreen to your child before he/she arrives at school. Also, please encourage your child to drink plenty of water. Water bottles are ok in the classroom, to save time please label your child's water bottle with his/her name. Also, so we don't have sticky spills, please help out and send ONLY water.

I can't believe this year has flown by this quickly!! Thank you to everybody for making it such as success! Mrs. C

Hi Parents:

It's hard to believe but we're down to the wire!

Thanks to one and all for helping us collect the one-gallon milk containers! We finally have enough. I will be cutting them down this weekend to make them into planters. We will be starting our plant unit right after the spring break.

Ask your students about the fun things they did in class this week! Today they got to "practice" making a tornado in a bottle! It was fun to watch them get so excited about it. On Friday, we will be blowing up a volcano in class, after we learn about where they are located and some other fun facts.

It's starting to get warm, so you might want to think about leaving the heavy coats at home. Also, for those of you that are worried about sunburns, it is a great idea to apply sunscreen at home before sending your child off to school.

Please take a look at the Link, my class newsletter and save the April and May snack calendars.

We will be putting together an end-of-the-year party with at least one other first grade class. More details to follow.

This Wednesday, March24, there will be NO homework, because we will be spending the vast majority of our morning watching the school-wide talent show. We have 4 participants from our class alone!

Remember there is NO school April 1-5. Dress down day in April is April 7th for $1.

The April character lunch with the principal is April 9th.

Thanks again for all your help! Mrs. C

Hi Parents:

Wow! I can't believe it's March already! Your kids should have come home wearing a Dr. Seuss "cat in the hat" hat and talking all about the wonderful (or not) green eggs and ham they had in class today! Mrs. Witt's class and our class got together and watched a Dr. Seuss movie and ate green eggs and ham!

The next two weeks are going to fly by with a lot of things coming up for the month:

March 3rd - Dress Down Day $1

March 5th - Pancake Breakfast with the Principal 50 cents per pancake

March 5th - Character lunch with the Principal - we are celebrating the trait of caring!

March 5th - Movie Night. The movie starts at 6 PM.

March 10th- Art show open house! Come see the art work our class has been working on for the past 2 -3 weeks!

March 11th - Report Card Day! 1/2 day of School with NO after school or lunch. School gets out promptly at 11;30 AM

March 12 and 15 - Spring Break - No school

March 16 - School resumes at 8:30 AM

March 16 - Skate Night from 6-8 PM

March 17 - St. Patrick's Day

Talent Show wil be held the week of March 22nd.

Remember - Cookie Dough sales will be over March 10th! Please help us raise money for the school. Also, we are in our final month of the Bookman's Reading Challenge. Our goal is to complete at least one form per student at home AND at school during the week! Please let me know if you need more forms to complete at home.

This is a wonderful way to increase your child's fluency and decoding skills. You can have them read the Saxon little white phonics books or any other book that is handy.

Thank you to all the grandparents who showed up and made our class such a festive spot! I hope you enjoyed seeing your "most wanted" child on his or her poster!

Mrs. C

Love of Reading Week

Parents: This week is the "Love of Reading Week!"

We have lots of fun activities planned.

Monday the teachers will be switching with other classes to read one of their favorite books to another class.

Tuesday is PJ DAY!!

Wednesday is make our own Bookmarks Day

Thursday is "Poem in a Pocket" day where we read the poem's we have been practicing for a week to as many different teachers as possible. Every time one of the children read a poem to a teacher, they earn a sticker!!

Friday is Dress up as your Favorite Character from a Story Book!! Your child should either bring the book with them OR be able to articulate what character they are from a book. Please no swords, guns or masks!

Again, we are doing our BEST to support the Bookman's Reading Challenge to earn money for our school. This contest runs through the end of March, so I encourage you to have your child fill out at least ONE Bookman's reading log per week at home. Thanks for your help!!

This is a GREAT week to have your child bring in a SHORT book that is one of their favorites that I can share with the rest of the class. Please make sure it has your child's name on it somewhere so it's not misplaced!

Thank you to all the parents and children who sent in yummy treats for the class to share for our Valentine's Day party! Thanks too for your thoughtfulness in remembering me on this fun day!

Remember to talk to grandparents about the upcoming Rodeo Week Grandparents Day which will be held on Wednesday, February 24th. Grandparents will be coming into the classroom to share in some fun rodeo activities with their grandchildren, then sharing a rodeo day cookout.

Western attire is ok!!

Mrs. C

Parents:

We are going to be focusing on different strategies with reading for the rest of the year. Studies show that successful readers try to have pictures, clips, sounds, smells going like an invisible movie in their head while they are "visualizing" the story when they are reading a book.

A good practice when you are reading with your child is to ask them clarifying questions to see if they remember or can describe the scenes or events in a story or chapter.

The Bookman's Reading Challenge continues until the end of March! We were in 3rd place in the total number of books read! Parents, please keep up the good work and encourage your child to fill out a book report and turn it in at least weekly!! Thanks, Mrs. C

Reminder: This Thursday, February 11 is our Field Trip to the Fox Theatre. We will be departing school RIGHT after breakfast. We will see the show first, then go to Reid Park for lunch and break. Please pack a sack lunch and drink for your child as well as a sweatshirt or light jacket.

Upcoming Events:

Valentine's Day Balloon Grams are available for sale in the front office until Wed. Feb 10th. They will be delivered on February 12th to the class.

Feb. 12th Valentine's Day exchange with our class and class party. You are encouraged to bring in store bought snacks or treats. We will be wearing free dress and a pink or red shirt.

Feb 15-19, Love of Reading Week

Feb 18: Skate Night from 6-8 PM

Feb. 24 -Grandparents Day and Rodeo Cookout! Grandparents will need to RSVP to let us know if they can attend the class activities planned in our classroom. More details to follow.

Feb. 25-26 NO school -Rodeo Break

March 2 Dr. Seuss Birthday

March 3 Dress Down Day $1

March 5 Pancake breakfast with the principal

Dear Parents:

We are coming to the really busy time of year with something new happening practically every week. Next Wednesday, Jan. 27th is a REALLY special, fun filled day for the the kids! Our first grade class is going to be visiting all the 2nd grade rooms/teachers for a 100 minutes of fun filled activities, arts or crafts. Our class is VERY excited about this and want to meet the teachers and see their classes! We are also having a free dress down day (jeans and any appropriate shirt), and a cookout lunch for all the kids. It is very important that you make every effort to have your child to school on time this day as activities will start shortly after school starts. Thank you! Mrs. C

Dear Parents:

Welcome back to school! I'm telling the class that they are well on their way to being 2nd graders. The expectations are going up, which you can reinforce at home.

Please make sure your child has his or her backpack, homework folder and homework done each day and brought to school. If your child has lost their monthly Pizza Hut "Book It" form, you can sign that they have read the required 15-20 minutes PER night on a plain piece of paper and send that in. The December reading logs are now due. January and February reading logs went home today.

Here are some upcoming events for January and February:

1/6 Dress Down Day $1

1/7 PTO Meeting 6:30 - 7:30 PM

1/14 Fuddruckers Fundraiser from 10:30 AM until close.

1/15 Movie Night

1/18 MLK Holiday - NO School

1/22 Daddy - Daughter Dance from 7 - 9 PM at LAKESIDE

1/27 100th Day of School Special Events planned ALL Day

February:

2/3 Dress Down Day $1

2/4 PTO Meeting

2/5 Mid quarter ends

2/8 to 2/12 Love of Reading Week

2/18 Skate Night from 6 - 8 PM

2/24 Grandparents Day/Rodeo Day

2/25 and 2/26 Rodeo Break No School

Thanks! Mrs. C